http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2005.shtml

any comments? a lotta the stuff i've heard i haven't been too impressed with, especially their top 10 (not counting the spoon album, which i'ma diggin').

I think the top ten stinks. Haven't really heard Antony and Johnsons tho. I know people here like it, but I think MIA is a steamin pile of shit.

i've heard a couple antony songs and, while they annoyed me a bit at first, am starting to like 'em & will probably emusic-dl'em.

i've heard 1 mia song & couldn't stand it -- instant delete. and from the reviews of her album, i've decided not to try any further.

I'm happy to see the Hold Steady getting some recognition. Their new album is lots of fun.

Speaking of metacritic and to those of you who read the film section, have you noticed that Charlie Kaufman of the New Republic hates like 97% of the movies he's reviewed?

The Eels album is great one of my favorites so far, as well as The Hold Steady.
I need to hear the Anthony and the Johnsons see what the buzz is about.

antony and the johnsons - one of my faves
mia - got old, enjoyable still. but lost flavor
edan - top 5 hip hop releases
go-betweens - haven't heard
sleater-kinney - fuckin rocks
andrew bird - growing on me with each listen
eels - can't get through the whole album
lcd - i don't give it enough credit
soad - haven't heard it
spoon - kinda bores me
bright eyes - kinda snore kinda good
buck 65 - its a greatest hits package
hold steady - don't like it
sooa - awesome
decemberists - losing it's shimmer, but real enjoyable
common - top 3 for me
white stripes - haven't heard it
mountain goats - i like it. idk how much
stars - 2004
maria taylor - what
the books - not as good as other releases
low - snore
bloc party - doesn't catch my interest anymore either
gorillaz - i dont get why critics like it.
quas - fantastic
of montreal - fantastic
vitalic - good shit
archer prewitt - mixed feelings
fannypack - fuck this
perceptionists - love it

Antony And The Johnsons #1?

bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!

Get yr. punk ass on IM and send me that shit, dude!

My 10 favorites of the year so far, in no particular order:

Archer Prewitt
Aimee Mann
Martha Wainwright
Andrew Bird
DJ Spooky vs. Dave Lombardo
Low
Mercury Rev
The National
Mike Doughty
Spoon

01. Antony and the Johnsons
- This is really great, it took me a little while to warm up to it because of how earnest the lyrics are, but it's a fragile little bit pathos that doesn't seem overly emotive or try too hard to make its points. Its simpleness is one of its best points.

02. M.I.A.
- If you don't like it, bugger off. Best electronic music released this year, even if you don't think much of what she's doing with the mic (I do)

03. Edan
- I don't really understand why this guy seems driven to rhyme. He namedrops all of his influences, which I guess is cool, but there's nothing centering this. I think he needs to live a bit more. He also has way too many effects over his vocals. I prefer Blueprint.

04. The Go-Betweens
- I'm surprised this is as well reviewed as it is, 'cause it seems like something I would like and most people wouldn't. Great sound, dense, wonderfully mature lyrics. Great music by old people.

05. Sleater-Kinney
- One of the albums of the year, anyway. Might not make them big but definitely solidifies that they should be.

06. Andrew Bird
- Woah, I suddenly decided this is overrated. He has some good tunes, but his lyrics are a little too cutesy, and he seems to be quite content on simply immitating his influences (Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright).

07. Eels
- Good, reliable record. Doesn't do anything new, but it's nice to have a mostly consistent version of E's work.

08. LCD Soundsystem
- It's hard to take issue with this thing getting buzz. Perhaps not as consistent or as immediately satisfying as I might want, but I'm happy with it.

09. System of a Down
- Haven't heard it, and I'm not sure if I care to.

10. Spoon
- Big disappointment, actually. Really not liking the lyrics and the arrangements are so dull to me.

this comment let's me know 2 things:

01 you haven't heard very many electronic releases this year if you consider this the best.

02 i can't ever trust anything you review from now on.

The order of this list changes every few hours, so wait until the best-of-year lists come out next January. Quas was number one until somebody dropped a 20/100 on them.

Those listed with a chance at my shmoo poll: Antony & the Johnsons, Edan, S-K, Andrew Bird, Eels, LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, Bright Eyes, Hold Steady, White Stripes, Low, Bloc Party, Vitalic

I like the MIA record, but consider it a hip hop release rather than electronica, in the electronica vein, I gotta go with Vitalic and Gang Gang Dance as my two favorites for the year.

still need to check these out:

Eels
Six Organs Of Admittance
Decemberists
Common
Mountain Goats

I'm glad MIA, LCD Soundsystem, Common and Annie are getting the recognition they deserve. However, I haven't heard a lot of indie rock this year, so much of that list hasn't reached my ears yet.

Hood I guess is comparable. But The Books, Caribou, M83, 13 & gOD, Out Hud, Four Tet, Daft Punk...most are huge disappointments to me and all are massive stepbacks from their recent albums. Edan and Blueprint are both trying to rip Madlib, and Madlib himself didn't really make that great of record this time at bat.

I haven't heard Vitalic, which I'm hoping will surpass any of this. Markus Guentner is another one I'd like to hear. Daedelus...eh? Anything else out there?

Have you heard any Diplo sans M.I.A.? I simply think, of all the electronic producers out there, he is the only one this year that sounds like he's doing something with some future left to squeeze out if it. Perhaps I haven't heard enough electronic music to say it's the best electronic production of the year, but of the dozen or so records I've heard, it's the only one that really impresses me as a producer. Diplo actually has a focused idea of what the music should be, it's complex texturing of simplistic but hard hitting beats, with the separated textures that don't run into each other and have colorful tones, each serving a separate purpose. Listen to the record in the car, it pulses appropriately, just beats and M.I.A. at the forefront. Hook it up to 5.1 and the little instrumental details come at you from all directions. How M.I.A.'s voice is layered is some kind of brilliant. I'll take "Amazon" over the indie-approved rehashed organic electronica any day. That stuff appears to have been taken as far as it can go on The Books' Lemon of Pink and Manitoba's Up In Flames. English rap production is the stuff that really excites me, and M.I.A. is just at the forefront right now.

Junior Boys also have the right idea, IMO. I'm excited to see synth pop rediscovered and taken in new directions.

Just want to say I don't hear any Rufus imitating in Andrew Bird. Or Jeff Buckley imitating. Their vocals are somewhat similar, but Rufus is about artifice and is fey, grandiose and mannered. Buckley is all about getting remarkable range and complexities out of his singing voice while tapping into the primacy of emotion.

Whereas Bird is about lyrics and whistling.

OK, so Andrew Bird uses his voice in a notably different context than Rufus or Jeff. But you don't think there are times when his voice sounds eerily like Jeff, and others that recall Wainwright's most famous stylings to a T? Do you think his voice would have had that same tonal quality and melodic style if RW and JB never released records?

And just because he adds whistling doesn't mean he's doing something entirely new. It's halfway between an accoutrement and a gimmick, IMO, not the motivation of the music.

Hear it now, it will

first off, Vitalic is god awful. Absolute garbage. It sounds like throwaway berlin techno from the 90's. really poor IMO.

a few electronic artists that have released excellent, innovative albums this year

monolake
kettel
jonson
infinite scale
slope
deluge
johan skugge
praveen
violence crew
silicone soul
jori hulkkonen
snooze
headphone science

I was being facetious about the whistling. Bird does sound like Buckley, though he doesn't go hell-for-broke vocally the way Buckley did.

I think the emotional contexts of Buckley, Wainwright and Bird are quite different, though. Wainwright is showy, theatrical and self-absorbed (and nasal). Buckley was raw and searing, but with an incredibly range. Bird is clever, intellectual, emotionally detached and genre-hopping.

this is the best description i've ever seen of him.